Archbishop of Canterbury slams big society as ‘aspirational waffle’

Dr Rowan Williams has criticised David Cameron’s big society as a play to conceal a ‘deeply damaging withdrawal of the state’ (Picture: PA)

He also questioned the motivation for what was portrayed as the Conservative leader’s flagship policy at the general election and suggested it represented an attempt by the state to ignore its responsibility to look after the most vulnerable in society.

The archbishop’s scathing attack on the prime minister’s ideas will feature in a new book, Faith in the Public Square, to be published ahead of his retirement in December.

In an extract quoted by the Observer, Mr Williams said: ‘The big society, introduced in the run-up to the last election as a major political idea for the coming generation, has suffered from a lack of definition about the means by which such ideals can be realised.

‘Big society rhetoric is all too often heard by many therefore as aspirational waffle designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities to the most vulnerable.’

He also suggested ministers needed to do more to define the role of citizens if the big society is to be seen as ‘anything better than a slogan looking increasingly threadbare as we look at our society reeling under the impact of public spending cuts’.

A Downing Street spokesman said the government was delivering on its plans and cited the launch of Big Society Capital in April as an example.

Mr Williams also criticised the previous Labour government for some of its policies, including the decision to invade Iraq.

‘The adventure in Iraq and its cost in any number of ways seems to beggar the imagination,’ he said.